"Lord, teach us to pray," Jesus' disciples say in Luke 11. Jesus responds by giving His disciples the shorter form of what we call the Lord's Prayer. (The longer form, the one Christians tend to memorize, is found in Matthew 6.) Jesus teaches us to pray through the model He gives in the Lord's Prayer as well as the other prayers we find in the Bible, such as the psalms. But I think Jesus teaches us to pray in other ways, too.
A couple months ago I encountered a quote by J. Neville Ward: "The purification of desire, the education of human wanting, is one of the principal ways in which God answers prayer." That quote has stuck with me. I think I've experienced that in my life. Last week I wrote about how the Holy Spirit is always at work in the lives of Christians to make us more like Jesus. According to Romans 8, the Holy Spirit prays for and with us. Sometimes I come to prayer angry or stressed or fearful or desperate. Sinful and selfish person that I am, sometimes I want vengeance or an easy way out of my troubles or the freedom to do whatever I want. But when I begin to pray the Holy Spirit often changes me. The Spirit reminds me that God is in control, that I am in God's presence. Suddenly those selfish, sinful prayers don't seem as appealing. If I pray them I'll soon end up confessing. And many times I don't actually pray them at all. Instead I'll ask God to work in my heart and show me my faults. I'll ask for strength to endure or growth in Christlikeness or God's blessing on people who have really been bothering me. It doesn't happen all the time; I'm far from perfect. But after years of trying to pray and learn what God wants by reading the Bible, I find that God is answering my prayers by shaping how pray, by purifying what I pray for. And that makes me want to know and love God even more.
Grace and peace,
BMH
Monday, May 25, 2020
Monday, May 18, 2020
#176 Transformation
Let's talk about sanctification. Sanctification is a big word that refers to the process of becoming holy. When Christians talk about sanctification, we talk about becoming like Jesus. Christians are called to love like Jesus loved us. Now clearly we are all a looooong way from that standard. Everybody fails to love again and again. I do. You do. We all do. A large portion of the letters in the New Testament deal with sanctification, teaching us how we should live. God calls us to leave behind our sinful ways and imitate Jesus. By following Jesus' example we live the way God has created us to live and we show Jesus our gratitude for saving us. But becoming like Jesus is a long and difficult process for us. We need to work to be less selfish, less hateful, less greedy, less lustful. We need to strive to be more loving, more honest, more content, more merciful. Sometimes we do well, and sometimes we don't. Sanctification can be extremely frustrating. We can seem hopeless.
But there's good news. Once Jesus saves us, He doesn't say, "Okay, figure out how to become a better person," and leave us on our own. Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit. We have to work on our sanctification. But the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, is also working on our sanctification. It's a team effort. The Holy Spirit works with us, in us, even at times in spite of us, transforming us to be more like Jesus. We still have to try, but it's not all up to us. The Holy Spirit won't give up and won't fail. That's a huge comfort. It's like God rubs off on us over time. Sometimes consciously and sometimes without realizing it we learn to care about others' pain, to be forgiving, to honor God, to put God first. Sometimes our growth may be so slow that we can't see it, but the Holy Spirit never stops. For the rest of our lives our sanctification will continue. When Jesus returns, He will finish His work. We will be like Him; we will be complete. That's a goal worth working toward. That's a hope worth holding on to.
Grace and peace,
BMH
But there's good news. Once Jesus saves us, He doesn't say, "Okay, figure out how to become a better person," and leave us on our own. Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit. We have to work on our sanctification. But the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, is also working on our sanctification. It's a team effort. The Holy Spirit works with us, in us, even at times in spite of us, transforming us to be more like Jesus. We still have to try, but it's not all up to us. The Holy Spirit won't give up and won't fail. That's a huge comfort. It's like God rubs off on us over time. Sometimes consciously and sometimes without realizing it we learn to care about others' pain, to be forgiving, to honor God, to put God first. Sometimes our growth may be so slow that we can't see it, but the Holy Spirit never stops. For the rest of our lives our sanctification will continue. When Jesus returns, He will finish His work. We will be like Him; we will be complete. That's a goal worth working toward. That's a hope worth holding on to.
Grace and peace,
BMH
Monday, May 11, 2020
#175 Alternative Order
Did you know that Christians and Jews have the books of the Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament) in a different order? I recently finished reading through the Old Testament following the Hebrew arrangement. It looks like this:
Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Writings: Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles
A couple things to note: First, Joshua-Kings are considered the Former Prophets, while Isaiah-Malachi are considered the Latter Prophets. Second, Daniel is not counted as a prophetic book in Jewish understanding.
I would strongly recommend reading the Old Testament in this order. If you've read the whole OT before, doing things slightly differently can keep it feeling fresh for you. But there are some other benefits. For one thing, the transition between Kings and Isaiah works really well. After reading through the story of the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, you move right into prophetic books that speak about the reasons why God brought the judgment of exile on His people as well as giving hope for future restoration. For another thing, the bleak yet hopeful outlooks of Ecclesiastes and Lamentations pair well together. Finally, Chronicles serves as a really good springboard into Matthew and the New Testament. The stories of David's dynasty of kings prepare you for the coming of Jesus, the Son of David. Plus, Chronicles, ends with a note of God's faithfulness in light of His people's unfaithfulness, a beautiful setup for God's ultimate display of faithfulness and rescue in the saving work of Jesus, the Messiah. Give it a try!
Grace and peace,
BMH
Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Writings: Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles
A couple things to note: First, Joshua-Kings are considered the Former Prophets, while Isaiah-Malachi are considered the Latter Prophets. Second, Daniel is not counted as a prophetic book in Jewish understanding.
I would strongly recommend reading the Old Testament in this order. If you've read the whole OT before, doing things slightly differently can keep it feeling fresh for you. But there are some other benefits. For one thing, the transition between Kings and Isaiah works really well. After reading through the story of the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, you move right into prophetic books that speak about the reasons why God brought the judgment of exile on His people as well as giving hope for future restoration. For another thing, the bleak yet hopeful outlooks of Ecclesiastes and Lamentations pair well together. Finally, Chronicles serves as a really good springboard into Matthew and the New Testament. The stories of David's dynasty of kings prepare you for the coming of Jesus, the Son of David. Plus, Chronicles, ends with a note of God's faithfulness in light of His people's unfaithfulness, a beautiful setup for God's ultimate display of faithfulness and rescue in the saving work of Jesus, the Messiah. Give it a try!
Grace and peace,
BMH
Monday, May 4, 2020
#174 Confessions of a Sleepy Dad
Obvious statement alert: parenting is tiring. Right now Tess and I have a three-year-old, Lanie, who almost never runs out of energy, and a nearly three-month-old, Mia, who still wakes up pretty often at night. Sometimes I'm stressed about work and Lanie is whining, and I think that running away and hiding from her for about an hour sounds pretty good. Or I'll be half-asleep and Mia will just keep crying instead of giving in and falling asleep, and I'll practically be able to feel the warmth of my sheets and comforter.
But then Mia will calm down after I finish changing her diaper and smile at me for a few moments. Or Lanie will climb into my lap with a book and snuggle up to me while we read. Then suddenly the weight of the exhaustion and the frustration melts away. I remember just how much I love my girls. Here's another obvious statement: parenting is worthwhile.
Grace and peace,
BMH
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